Buttonwood 'Friends' moving toward recreational focus

NEW BEDFORD — Members of the Friends of Buttonwood Park said the organization is shifting its focus to active recreation as part of a broader effort to promote healthier lifestyles in the city.

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By NATALIE SHERMAN

southcoasttoday.com

By NATALIE SHERMAN

Posted Nov. 22, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 22, 2012 at 7:02 AM

By NATALIE SHERMAN

Posted Nov. 22, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 22, 2012 at 7:02 AM

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD — Members of the Friends of Buttonwood Park said the organization is shifting its focus to active recreation as part of a broader effort to promote healthier lifestyles in the city.

"We've been increasingly cognizant kids aren't using the park like they used to," said Richard Leary, a board member and lifelong Buttonwood basketball player. "The Friends are becoming increasingly aware of the need for people to be much more active "¦ America is just simply seriously out of shape."

This summer, the group launched a "Buttonwood on the Move!" campaign that is trying to raise roughly $150,000 to install three new basketball courts in time for play in summer 2013, said development director Marie Fontaine.

Plans call for the new courts to be 80 by 50 feet, with a 10-foot apron, slightly larger than the current footprint, she said. The improvements will also include benches, lighting, and new hoops and backboards.

The park's three current courts received their last upgrade 30 years ago, she said.

"It was, we felt, an urgent need in terms of repair, but also a very widely used recreation option that we thought would benefit the most people the quickest," Fontaine said.

New Bedford is one of two communities in Massachusetts to receive funding last year for pilot programs aimed at reducing child obesity.

The improvements to the basketball courts — and eventually the walking trails and tennis courts — are meant to dovetail with that effort, Leary said.

"This basketball project complements the New Bedford initiative and this larger state and federal initiative to combat obesity," he said.

The Friends, which organized in 1986 to support the park, kicked off a fundraising campaign this fall, sending direct mailings to about 200 people and asking local businesses for sponsorship, Fontaine said. The non-profit is hoping to receive much of the contributions as in-kind donations, she said. They hosted a public conversation about the plans last week.

"In the past, the Friends have really concentrated on the horticultural improvements of the park, but at this point we're ready to start with the active recreation options," said Fontaine. "The Friends have grown well-established enough to be able to move on to some of these bigger projects that have community impact."

"It's everyone's park and we hope to see a lot of participation," she added.